MVD Will Drive New West Side Development

ALBUQUERQUE — The West Side is about to get a new MVD office — and, its developers expect, some more restaurants and retail.

Allen Sigmon Real Estate Group will break ground in early 2017 on the first phase of a projected $11 million development south of Cottonwood Mall along Eagle Ranch Road. The State of New Mexico signed on as the first tenant for a new 6,000-square-foot standalone Motor Vehicle Division office, making it the department’s first location on the West Side since a Cottonwood Mall MVD closed in 2010.

The first round of construction will also bring two 7,200-square-foot retail buildings marketed toward the likes of restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, boutiques, dentists and nail salons.

Austin Tidwell, who will spearhead leasing efforts with Daniel Kearney, said the MVD should be a magnet for the larger parcel. The state estimates that a West Side office will serve about 13,000 people each month.

“We imagine (the MVD is) going to bring in quite an amount of traffic along with it, just knowing people no longer have to travel all the way into Albuquerque (for) their MVD needs,” Tidwell said.

Called The Shoppes at Eagle Vista, the project marks the initial stage of the planned Eagle Vista development on 6.7 acres of vacant land located between Eagle Ranch and Irving. A future addition would likely include a 30,000-40,000-square-foot anchor, Tidwell said.

Tidwell said construction on the shops will begin in February, and tenants should get access by late 2017. Allen Sigmon is using architect Rick Bennett.

The West Side MVD will replace the current office in Downtown Albuquerque, according to a State Taxation and Revenue Department spokesman. The Downtown location serves about 6,500 customers per month and does not provide certain services, like driving tests and Vehicle Identification inspections that the West Side office will.

“In order to make our department more efficient and serve a large and growing region, we are closing the Downtown office and creating a full-service MVD on the West Side,” spokesman Ben Cloutier said in a written statement. “The Downtown office does not get a lot of traffic because of its location and poor parking situation.”